Has the sleep/wake button on your iPhone 5 stopped working? Thought it was a lost cause? There might be some hope yet!
Apple has released a statement to The Loop regarding a recall of some iPhone 5 models because of broken sleep/wake buttons, which means if you are one of the device owners affected- you could get it replaced for free.
Here’s the lowdown-
You’ll need to enter your iPhone’s serial number here to see if your device is one of those affected by the recall.
If your phone is affected and you want to get it fixed for free ( duh) you can bring it to any Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service provider. Your device will have to be sent away to an Apple repair centre to be fixed, however it is believed that for the interim some Apple stores are lending customers iPhone 5 16Gb models. You can also mail your device directly to the repair centre if you’d like.
According to Apple your device will take 4-6 days from the time it is received until it is returned to you, and all customers should back up all their data and erase all content and setting before sending it in to get fixed. All devices that receive a new sleep/wake button will be updated to iOS 7.
If you’ve got an iPhone 5 that is affected by this recall and you’ve already paid for an out-of-warranty replacement, you should contact an Apple customer service rep to ask for a refund.
This recall and placement program will be effective for 2 years after the initial retail purchase of your device.
According to some reports there are stores that are offering customers affected by the recall a $350 upgrade credit for a new device, but you must specifically ask for it, your phone must be in perfect condition other than the sleep/wake button, and it’s of course not guaranteed.
By the way, why doesn’t Apple have a cooler name for that button? Writing sleep/wake button over and over has cemented the fact that it’s a pretty stupid name. It should be called, like, the enforcer button or something. Just saying, Apple.
Good luck Guys! Let us know how you go if this recall applies to you!
Since April 16th people who have devices running iOS 6 have been experiencing difficulty using FaceTime. Apple changed their troubleshooting page to advise updating devices to the latest operating system, but it was thought that the issue would be fixed after a short period of time.
Unfortunately kids, it appears we are just not that lucky. Apple today released a new support document advising that the problems people are experiencing with FaceTime are due directly to a bug which has resulted from an expired device certificate.
No good.
If you are on of those people experiencing the problem, then the only way you can use FaceTime is to update your operating system to the latest version that your device is capable of running.
If your device is capable of running iOS 7 it must be upgraded to iOS 7.0.4 or later, however if your device is incapable of running iOS 7 ( like the iPhone 3GS), you must upgrade to iOS 6.1.6.
Here it is direct from the sauce:
“If you started to have issues making or receiving FaceTime calls after April 16, 2014, your device or your friend’s device may have encountered a bug resulting from a device certificate that expired on that date. Updating both devices to the latest software will resolve this issue.
If you’re using iOS 7.0.4 or later or iOS 6.1.6, this issue doesn’t affect you.
If you’re using these versions of OS X or FaceTime for Mac, this issue doesn’t affect you:
– OS X Mavericks v10.9.2 or later
– OS X Mountain Lion v10.8 with the latest security updates
– OS X Lion v10.7 with the latest security updates
– FaceTime for Mac version 1.0.5 or later for Mac OS X v10.6
While FaceTime does work with iOS 6.1.6, that particular update is not available to recent devices that are able to run iOS 7, which means iOS 6 users with newer devices who wish to access FaceTime must upgrade to iOS 7.”
So… Happy upgrading? We guess? For reals though, it actually is a pretty nice iOS, even though the changes might look a bit scary. Check out our iOS 7 article here. You knew you had to do it eventually, right? Right? … FaceTime Shots Anyone?
If you’re running iOS 6 on your iPad or iPhone, you may have noticed that you’re currently unable to FaceTime. According to a report on Macrumors, multiple people running iOS 6 have encountered the problem and Apple has updated it’s troubleshooting page specifically to advise upgrading to the latest iOS as the number 1 step.
Users who have complained directly to Apple have also been advised to update their iOS as the first troubleshooting step, however it is acknowledged among the tech community that the problem should be a temporary one.
If you don’t want to update your device to the latest iOS, you shouldn’t have to, unless you NEED to do FaceTime shots/ show babies to someone IMMEDIATELY. Or REALLY SOON.
We totally understand that need, by the way and we plan to be doing one of those today, so we’ll use an ioS 6 device and keep you guys updated as to if and when the issue appears to get fixed!
Are we excited for the iPhone 6? Huh? Huh? Duh! Rumors about the upcoming 9th generation iPhone to be released by Apple are running rampant already, and we couldn’t be more excited.
Here’s a rundown of everything we know about the iPhone 6. And what we think we know. And what we think other people might be potentially correct on what they think. And some things that probably aren’t true but some people think they are. Etc. All photos in this article are not real and are representations of what people believe the iPhone will be, or photos or purported prototypes.
Most people agree that one if not two new iPhones will be released this year, and following Apple’s recent naming system one of them more than likely will be called the iPhone 6. The main hardware difference that most people are solid on is that the new iPhone(s) will be thinner and slimmer, just like your New years resolutions!
Tim Cook has revealed that 2014 is a big year for Apple product releases, and people are optimistically expecting the release of the iWatch, possibly the iTV, and the next iPhone update(s!). These possible new product releases alongside other factors such as the possibility of dual iPhone releases will obviously affect when and exactly how fancily updated the new iPhone(s) will be.
Some people are speculating that the iPhone 6 will be, in fact, the iWatch and the current mobile iPhone will only get a new iOS update.
The more trusted and reliable thought is that the iPhone 6 will be its own separate hardware update, and because of the rumored new product releases set most likely for the Fall, it will be released early this year; think sometime in the 2nd quarter, June, or early Summer. This is certainly a possibility – Apple released the first four generations of iPhone in June, before moving to an September/October launch schedule.
The other line of thought is that the iPhone 6 will follow the more recent iPhone release schedule and released in the Fall, leaving the Apple team plenty of time to make sure everything is perfect.
A lot of analysts believe that Apple will continue with their new 2 phone release model, this time featuring 2 differing size options. The sizing rumors range from 4.5 inches waaaay up to 5.7 inches. There is additional speculation that Apple will minimize or completely eradicate the bezels (the part bordering the screen) on the iPhone 6.
Arguments against the bigger screen sizes are backed up by Apple’s hard stance on one handed mobile use and their reluctance to provide a bigger screen at a loss to function just to compete with other smartphone companies. Tim Cook said this in April of last year:
“My view continues to be that the iPhone 5 has the absolute best display in the industry. We always strive to create the very best display for our customers. Our competitors have made some significant trade-offs in many of these areas in order to ship a larger display, we would not shop a larger-display iPhone while these trade-offs exist.”
Two new hardware components that are rumored to be allowing the iPhone to be thinner, lighter and more durable are Sapphire Glass and Liquidmetal.
Apple has exclusive rights to Liquidmetal, but have done for quite a long time. However, in November, five new Apple patents relating to Liquidmetal were published. Liquidmetal is a very strong and very durable material, which, if used, could make the iPhone 6 stronger and thinner as less material would be needed in comparison to Aluminum. According to some reports, the iPhone 6 could be just 6mm thick compared with the iPhone 5s’s 7.6mm. Below is a purported prototype from Sonnydickson.com
Sapphire glass is the material currently used on the iPhone 5S’s Touch ID Home Button the cover of the iPhone’s rear-facing camera. It’s more than twice as durable than Corning’s Gorilla Glass, and is “extremley scratch resistant. Apple has apparently spent $578 million to enter into a multi-year agreement with manufacturers GT Advanced Technologies to provide sapphire materials from a huge new Apple facility in Arizona.
The iPhone 5s incorporates a 64-bit A7 28-nanometer chip manufactured by Samsung. Apple’s iPhone 6 will reportedly incorporate a 20-nanometer A8 chip from TSMC, which will be both smaller and more energy efficient.
Samsung will continue to be involved in the production, alleviating some of TSMC’s manufacturing workload. The A7 chip marked a 31 percent improvement over the A6 in the iPhone 5, and it is likely that the leap to a 20-nm A8 chip will offer similar increases in performance.
Apple’s next-generation iPhone should, and may support the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard that first began appearing in Apple products in 2013. 802.11ac, or “Gigabit” Wi-Fi offers speeds up to three times as fast as existing 802.11n wireless networks, reaching speeds over 1 Gigabit per second. It’s though that Apple have been waiting for external technology to catch up before they update their iDevices with the Wi-Fi Technology.
Wireless Charging is something that has been tossed around in the great big salad bowl of rumors, but we don’t think it’s coming- yet. Curved Glass is also a feature many are looking forward to- and would be be beautiful on the iPhone 6, but we wouldn’t be betting the house on it.
According to a reports from The China Post, Apple will not be upgrading the resolution of the rear camera for the iPhone 6 later this year. Citing analysts from Nomura Securities, they indicate that while the iPhone 6 will have some camera improvements like enhanced optical image stabilization, it will continue to use an 8-megapixel sensor rather than a higher-resolution sensor in the 12-16 megapixel range.
Some people think that the Touch ID introduced on the iPhone 5S last year will be removed from future iPhone updates – we think this is pretty categorically not going to happen. What we think will happen is that Apple will, this year, introduce new payment methods using the touch ID.
Apple recently purchased PrimeSense, a firm specializing in the development of three-dimensional sensors for home appliances and mobile devices. This technology is similar to the gesture-detecting sensors of the Xbox’s Kinect controller. This purchase could certainly hint at a move to include gesture control on the next generation of Apple devices, although unlike Samsung, they would want to have it perfected before they release anything with gesture control.
The iPhone 6(s) will run on iOS 8. Yay!
So that’s it – so far. Everyday there are new rumors and people certain they know exactly what the iPhone 6 will be like. In actual fact, there’s very, very few people in the world who knows exactly what it will be like. This guy is one of them.
So if you see him, can you guys ask him for us? Thanks.
If you’re thinking of selling or giving away a stinky old iPhone, you need to understand how to turn off the ‘Find My iPhone’ function. ESPECIALLY if the device has been upgraded to iOS 7, whereby it will also be loaded with Apple’s Anti-theft Activation lock.
That’s not it. The Anti-theft Activation Lock introduced with iOS 7 is however super awesome for preventing theft by rendering the phone basically useless and worth roughly one eighth of its proper resale price. However, it also does this if you forget to turn it off before you sell it or give it away.
For instance, here at iPhone Antidote, we cannot give you the total quoted amount for your iPhone unless the Anti-theft Activation lock is turned off.
So, you guys need to know how to turn it off! And luckily for everyone involved, whilst not being the funnest 3 minutes you ever spend (we hope) it IS super easy! High Five!
There is a couple of different methods depending on the condition and location of your iPhone. If your iPhone works and is with you, you should-
Remove your iPhone from Find My iPhone by turning it off on the iPhone.
Simple! On your iPhone, go to Settings > iCloud, then tap to turn off ‘Find My device.’ It will ask for your Apple ID password ( The one you use in the App Store), then BAM, both Find my iPhone and the Anti-theft activation lock is turned off.
YAY!
If your iPhone is not with you, already sold or given away OR broken or water damaged so that it won’t turn on, it’s also, really, really easy. HIGH FIVE!
If you can’t use your iPhone because it’s too damaged, or you’ve already sold it or given it away, you can remotely remove it from Find My iPhone and remotely remove the Anti-theft Activation Lock.
Your iPhone must be powered off. Easy to do if it’s broken! Also easy enough to do if you’ve sold it to a company such as ourselves or you can get in contact with the friend that you gave it to.
Then:
Sign in to icloud.com/#find with your Apple ID (the one you use with iCloud & the App Store).
Click ‘All Devices’ at the top of the page. Wait for the website to locate your iPhone, then select it from the drop down menu. It should appear as offline and grey.
A menu of options will appear on the right hand side of the screen. IGNORE THESE ( Unless you want to remotely erase your iPhone)
Click back on the ‘All Devices’ button at the top of the page. There should now be an X next to your iPhone. Click it. Click it good.
Click “remove” on the next screen to confirm.
Aaaaaand you’re done! Now someone else can now activate the device, making it worth a whole lotta more clams from us/high fives from the friend you gave it to!
If you guys have any problems removing the anti theft activation lock from your iPhone – please contact us and let us know! We’d LOVE to help you out! And we give hugs too!
Alright, crash course in subsidies! A Subsidy is something you more than likely have used or been a part of. It’s a form of financial or in kind support extended to an economic sector, institution, business, or individual generally with the aim of promoting beneficial economic and social outcomes.
It’s also what happens when you buy a smartphone in this country, unless you buy it outright.
If you paid $199 for an iPhone 5S, or $99 for an iPhone 5C, your carrier subsidized the real cost of the smartphone. This means that you paid a certain amount, and because you signed a two year contract with them guaranteeing your continued business for a locked in period of time, they paid Apple the rest of the cost price of the iPhone.
All good, right?
Well, for now, yeah. Last week however AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson came out and dropped a little mini iPhone world bombshell on the future of subsidies in the smartphone industry.
His main point was that with smartphone saturation climbing rapidly towards 90% (!) carriers will need to move on to a different way of doing things, because the current model can’t be maintained at that rate.
Carriers like AT&T use the subsidies to drive demand, but with such a high percentage of the population of the country already owning a smartphone, demand moves to upgrades and the companies subsidy system was never meant to support a predominantly upgrading model.
So what now? & how will it affect you?
We’re heading towards a smartphone world with financing rather than subsidies. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the company’s new AT&T Next program, which offers no-money down and 0-percent financing, “drives smartphone penetration in a way that is more sustainable over time.”
So if you buy an iPhone in the future, you’re still likely to sign a contract. That contract however will be broken up in a way where you can see that each payment period you are paying off a stated amount from the total cost of the smartphone. Separate to that amount would be what you are paying to use the carrier’s service- calls, texts, etc. You would of course also always have the option to buy the phone outright.
It’s the way that it’s done in a number of countries around the world and it will be interesting to see if and how the market here adapts and changes.
But don’t worry! Why not? Well, because the only things you need to worry about Friday the 13th is avoiding ladders, black cats and ridiculous superstitions.
AND checking out Walmart’s Holiday Sale!
Included in their holiday sale is the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S! Whaaaa? Super awesome good luck! Take that unlucky Friday the 13th!
You can look forward to deals such as zeez:
The iPhone 5c will be offered at just $27 instead of the $99 price offered at Apple!
The iPhone 5S will be offered at $127 on a two year contract instead of the $199 price offered at Apple!
Also offered is a $50 gift card with the purchase of a $299 16 GB original iPad mini.
It all starts at 8AM on Friday, and runs through to December 24th!
AND THERE’S MORE!
Best Buy is now offering the iPhone 5S starting at $124.99 with 2 year activation! You can also get a $50 Best Buy gift card with the purchase of an iPad 2.
We told you we loved Christmas right? We also really like deals. Deals, tips, tricks, writlefifers, all of it. This is why we now proudly present the Christmas Gift Guide Part 3 – Tips & Tricks for buying Tech this Christmas!
According to Macrumors, Apple now has an official policy on price matching, which allows specialists to price match iPhones, iPads, and Macs, giving up to 10 percent off on products without authorization. Specialists are also allowed to give business customers up to 20% off a non-Apple accessory when purchased with an Apple product via special order.
Apple also has free shipping now through December 22nd.
If you’re thinking of buying that special someone a Smartphone this holiday season, you should get yourself along to Whistleblower – a fantastic tool that you can use to compare cell phone plans online, and see which one is best for your needs and your budget!
If you use Amazon ( and you should) you should be aware of a couple of things. Firstly, they will price match on cell phones and televisions within 14 days of shipment of the product. Click here to see the details.
Amazon also offers 3-months of Amazon Prime Membership for free for parents & caregivers. This includes Free 2-day shipping on qualifying items, 30% off Select Diapers & Wipes which qualify for subscribe & save (15% discount + 15% S&S discount, an additional month of Amazon Prime for each $25 you spend on a single order (up to 1 year total of free prime) and exclusive e-mail discounts and offers.
If you’re a college student you can also get free Prime membership for 6 months and only $39/year after that as well as a $5 credit for each friend you refer. Click here to sign up.
College students should also click here to apply for Best Buy’s student discounts, all you need is your student email address ( must end in .edu). With this, you’ll save $50 on MacBooks and receive similar discounts in your email.
You guys should definitely check out the refurbished products on the Apple special deals page here. You can find deals like the iPad Mini Wifi 64 Gb with a 1 year warranty for $419, 13 inch MacBook air for $849, or Apple TV for $75.
Target’s markdown day is usually Monday for electronics. Markdowns usually take place every two weeks and items will continue to be marked down every two weeks until sold or the discount reaches 75 percent. Markdown schedule’s might vary from store to store, so it won’t hurt to check.
You can get a bunch of sweet Mac applications all in one go from MacUpdate in corroboration with Macrumors. For only $39.99, the bundle includes 10 applications such as iStopMotion 3, Anonymiser, and Backblaze. All up it’s worth a cool $360 clams. Click here to check out the deal.
And here’s a couple of specific deals you should check out:
iPad Mini and iPad Mini with Retina Display Smart Cover by Apple – 19.99 for blue, 14.99 for all others including Red. Free Shipping. Click here to see the deal.
Pioneer A4 WiFi Speaker w/ AirPlay Streaming $80 + Free Shipping save $120! Check it out here.
Get a Apple 15.4″ MacBook Pro for $1549.99 with a discount and rebate at MacMall.
Happy dealing and Writlefifing and Merry Christmas!
1.Please don’t miss social opportunities that you mistake as AWKWARD social situations by pretending that you’re texting.
When we use technology to avoid possibly awkward situations, we’re simply avoiding learning how to manage ourselves in possibly awkward situations. Once we learn that, we can turn these situations around to use them in our advantage. Evil genius or awesome Yogi advice?
2.Don’t go one step further and pretend to be on a phone call, cos, you know, the phone will probably ring.
There is no sage advice with this one. Just don’t risk it, please. For humanity’s sake.
3. Don’t Judge people on their smartphone choice or lack of choice.
Just because you made a choice based on your own understanding of how technology works well in your own life, does not mean you should judge other people for making a different decision. Your opinion on which brand is better may be imporant to you, but calling people sheep or stupid for their smartphone choice is irrelevant and, well, dumb. People make different choices, get over it.
4.Please don’t put your phone on loudspeaker, put it right in front of your mouth and then proceed to yell into it.
This. This just hurts everyone’s ears and some people’s souls. Please consider the poor souls around you. Speaking quietly is far more effective in business and personal relationships, at any rate. However, it is far more acceptable if you are yelling into your phone because you are pretending it is a microphone, and that you are Steven Tyler. ( Liv Tyler’s dad for those more, uh, modern among us.)
5. Don’t Frape.
In case you don’t know, Fraping is when someone leaves their phone or computer unattended and has their FaceBook app or page open. The aim is to then go ahead and try to make them seem stupid/gay/pregnant etc to their many friends and loved ones.
Who is actually laughing at these? Please stop. The only exception is if it is awesome, like this one.
6. It’s totally the cool thing these days to make sure no-one uses their phone at the dinner table, or in other social circumstances. We get it, people are trying to be disconnected from the outside world, and only connected to the people in the physical space around them.
But please, don’t be a obnoxious douche and please understand if someone has to have their phone on. Sometimes people have things going on in their lives that means they need to be connected to the outside world. It doesn’t mean they’re rude.
7. On the other hand, don’t be a rude douche and take out your smartphone out to do anything that is less important that what is happening in the room around you.
Especially if there is something happening that is important to someone you care about. Even though it may be tempting to follow the game during the family christmas movie time, think about how that breaks you apart from what everyone else in the room is experiencing. No good.
8. DON’T USE YOUR MOBILE PHONE WHILST DRIVING.
It’s so tempting, we know, and we know you can do two or three things at once, and we know you’re one of the best drivers you or anyone else knows, but that’s what other people thought, minutes before they crashed.
Just don’t do it.
9. Don’t forget to use your upgrade!
Sirs! Madams! You should upgrade! Why are you waiting around with a stinky old phone? You can do better, you can be better! Upgrade! And then don’t you dare leave that stinky old phone in a drawer. Sell it for CASHMONEY.
Then smile!
Lastly,
10. Don’t forget to be super grateful and happy about the tiny fancy computer in your pocket that lets you communicate, educate, create, listen to music, play games and movies, take photos and video. Be happy about the fact that these tiny computers are relatively normal now, because technology is always advancing, and you’re lucky enough to experience it personally!
Apple, Cell Phone Carriers, iPhone 5, iPhone Data, Make Money, New Releases, Security, Upgrades | iPhone-Antidote | 
April 27, 2014 10:25 am | 
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